Speak Now
by ambrosesaysnope
Summary: "Please go, Justin." She shouted down at him. "I made a mistake. Go back to Kelly. She's probably wondering where you went." JustinGabrielxOC


Disclaimer: I only own Nicole.

A/N: I've been playing around with this idea for a while. Finally, I've been able to write it out. It's loosely based on Taylor Swift's _Speak Now._ Enjoy & review!

* * *

He silently walked up the steps that would lead him to her house. So many emotions were running through his body, he didn't know what to feel. On one hand he was really angry and upset. While, on the other, he was glad he hadn't taken the plunge.

When he reached the familiar front door to her apartment building, his eyes scanned down the list and he hit the buzzer that connected to her apartment. He waited impatiently for her to answer, but he got no answer. So, he rang one more time. Again, there was no answer. Finally, he decided to hold his finger on the buzzer until she caved in and answered the door. If there was anything that bothered Nicole, it was someone constantly ringing her doorbell.

"What is it Justin?" Her voice came low and muffled over the speaker.

"How did you know it was me?"

Meanwhile, Nicole smirked at his response. He did something else that bothered her to no end. She hated when people answered a question with a question. Justin very well knew that. He was only doing it to be obnoxious. This was his payback for what she had done earlier, she thought.

"You're the only one who sleeps on the buzzer. What did you need?"

"I wanted to talk about what happened at the church."

Justin heard a click and knew that she had hung up. Now, he was the one who was upset. Well, even more than before. She had done so much damage that day, he deserved the answers to all of his questions. He let her get away with a lot, but he wouldn't let her actions slide so easily this time.

Pulling off his tie, he headed down the steps and walked to where her window was. He had been there so many times, he knew exactly where to stand and at what angle he had to be to throw something. Because, he had nothing to throw, he resorted to yelling. Sure, everyone would think he was mental, but hey, he had no choice. Nicole made him do this.

"Fine!" He screamed looking up at her window. "You won't let me in, then I'll just scream everything in the middle of these Chicago streets. Damn it, Nix, I flew two and half hours to get these answers and so help me God, I'll get them all."

Nicole heard him screaming from where she was standing. The tears were streaming down her face at a fast pace. She knew that flying down to Florida the night before was a bad idea, but she did it anyway. She knew that going to a wedding that she was uninvited from was a bad idea, but she went anyway (she would blame Wade for convincing her to go). It was a horrible idea to show herself when it came time to speak or forever hold her peace, but she spoke anyway. She spoke and then she ran. In fact, she went back to her hotel and immediately booked a flight to go back home. However, she didn't count on Justin following her back home. Now, she felt like a complete and utter moron.

"Go away, Justin." She muttered even though he couldn't hear her.

"Nicole, I want to know why you showed up to my wedding." Justin screamed at the top of his lungs. "You knew how I felt about Kelly. Why would you show up? I just don't get why you would say something and then run without explaining yourself to me. You ruined my day."

He stood in place, looking up at her window closely. He was just waiting for the curtain to be pulled to the side. He so badly wanted to hear the window creak open and see her peak her head out. The whole way to her house, he wondered what could have possessed her to disturb the peace. She never once indicated any problem with Kelly when they first started seeing each other. She surely never said anything when planning for the wedding got underway. He just assumed she was busy when she said she couldn't come to the wedding.

"I deserve these answers." He refused to move. "You told me you couldn't make it to the wedding, yet you still show up. Please, Nicole, just open the door and we can talk like normal people. We can talk how we use to talk to each other."

She cowered in the corner of her apartment, crying. Why had he shown up? She didn't think he would come to her. Nicole thought for sure that he would go on with the wedding. At least, that's what she figured when five minutes went by and he wasn't out of the church, running to her.

"Nicole!"

Wiping away her tears, she walked over to the window and opened it. She fought a smile when the window creaked. That was the same exact window Justin had promised to fix just before he started seeing Kelly. That didn't happen because the dumb bitch sunk her skanky claws into him, barely giving Nicole a chance to see her friend.

Justin smiled when he heard the familiar click. He wondered why she had never gotten it fixed. It was almost as if she were waiting for someone to magically appear and fix the stupid thing for her.

"Please go, Justin." She shouted down at him. "I made a mistake. Go back to Kelly. She's probably wondering where you went."

"I'm not leaving. I literally came here from the church." He shouted up at her. "For fucks sake Nix, I'm still in my tux. I'm dead tired and I want to see you. There's so many questions I need answered and you're the only one who can give me the answers. You owe me!"

Mentally, she cursed herself, he was right. Taking a deep breath, she yelled for him to buzz again. This time she promised to let him in. She fought back a smile when he ran back to the door. However, when she noticed the crowd that formed across the street, then she started laughing. Hearing the buzzer, she closed the window and this time allowed him access into the building.

"Finally, Nikki." He walked past her when she opened the door.

She said nothing as he walked passed her. She paused at the door once she had it closed. When she grew the courage, she turned around to face the man she had loved for so long. Now, was the time to tell him everything. She knew she had to tell him, even if it hurt her in the end.

"The floor is yours." She said, joining him in the living room.

At first she didn't know why he was quiet, but she quickly realized why he hadn't spoken a word. He was looking at a picture of the two of them taken while they were at Disneyland. Her lips curled into a smile as she remembered that day. By the time they left, they had each gotten a sunburn from being outside so long. Neither one of them cared. All they cared about was that they got to spend time together.

"Why did you do it?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the picture.

He was still in his own world. Very much like Nicole, his mind was taken back to that day. They had gone to Disneyland way before he had started seeing Kelly. At that time he was struggling with his feelings for her. He was deeply in love with her and didn't know how to tell her. He had planned on telling her that day, specifically during the firework show at the end of the night, but he never did. He wimped out at the last minute. After that, he started putting off telling her. When he saw he was never going to say anything to her, he decided it was time to move on and he found Kelly. To his own surprise, he fell for her and even almost made it to the alter.

"It's a long story."

"Well, I have time." He placed the picture frame back on the table and looked at the petite brunette standing before him. "If it's a long story, you might want to sit down and tell me."

Nicole nodded her head and sat down in the seat in front of him. It was when she really looked at him that she realized he was still in his tux. He really wasn't kidding when he said that, she thought. Shrugging off the thought, she started her story.

"When I said I had something else to do today, I lied. Truth was, I really wanted to be at the wedding. Not for the reason that I showed up for today, but for an entirely different reason. I really wanted to be there for you as your friend." She admitted.

"What made you change your mind?"

"It was after you and I pulled that all nighter that Kelly cornered me in the locker room. She found out that you and I spent time together. Of course, she thought I was trying to steal you away from her. When I told her I wasn't, she ignored me and still went along with the idea that I wanted you. It was then that she told me not to come to the wedding. Thinking she was insane, I told her that I was going to be there because I was your friend. However, she was insistent on me not showing up. Somehow she manipulated me into not going. After that, I came to you and fed you that bullshit about not being able to make it."

"Kelly wouldn't do that. She's too sweet do be that condescending." Justin replied, not believing Nicole. "The girl doesn't have a bad bone in her body. You're lying."

"I'm not lying." Nicole muttered, knowing that he would react this way. "Wade overheard the whole thing, you can ask him if you don't believe me."

"Oh sure, like I'm going to ask him. He hates her just as much as you do."

"This is why I didn't want to talk to you. I knew you were going to react this way!" Nicole screamed. "Kelly has got you brainwashed."

"Why did you show up today?"

Nicole released a shaky breath and allowed her brown eyes to meet with his gray ones. She wanted to stop talking, but quickly decided against it when she saw his eyes pleading with hers.

"Believe it or not, I wasn't going to show up. My mind had been tinkering with the idea for weeks. Everyday I would change my mind. One second I would want to stop the wedding and the next second I wouldn't. It was when I was talking to Wade that he finally convinced me to go. He made a lot of valid points. One very important one stood out to me."

"I'm guessing it's the fact that everyone hated her." Justin shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know why everyone was so down on her. She's nothing like anyone thinks she is. No one just really got to know her like I do."

"She has you fooled, Justin." Alex said, but quickly held her hand up when she saw he was going to defend her again. "We'll get to all of that later. Right now, I want to finish telling you what you want to know."

"Go ahead."

She ran a hand through her dark brown hair. "He made me realize something that I myself never fully realized. Sometimes I would wonder why I got so pissed when you bailed on me to be with her or why I would even want to ruin your wedding to begin with. Finally, Wade put it into perspective for me. So, I made a bold move and booked a flight to Florida. I came in around midnight and went directly to sleep. In the morning, I woke up, got ready and headed straight for the church."

She stopped speaking and looked at Justin. He was on the edge of his seat, waiting to find out what else was going through her mind.

"Anyway, I snuck into the church. Believe me, it was hard. I swear, the dumb broad beefed up on security for no reason. I mean, it's not like she's anything special. Moving on, I still had the jitters when I entered the church and at one point I was going to turn around leave. The door that I snuck in through just happened to be by the bridal suite. It was when I was sneaking by that I heard her yelling at someone. At first, I thought it was a bridesmaid, but that theory quickly flew out the window when I heard a man's voice. It was when I heard what he said that I knew I had to do something. Before, I could be spotted, I quickly hid behind a door. Thank God I did because just then her family showed up. Let me tell you, they look like a Stepford family. They're all tan and blond with perfectly straight white teeth. It didn't help matters that they were all in pastel."

Justin laughed at her comment. That sounded like Kelly's family. They always strived to look perfect. While, they achieved the look most of the time, they also looked creepy in the process. There was really no reason for him to wonder why Kelly was the way that she was. Then, he remembered something she said and he stopped laughing.

"Who was in the room with her?"

"I'm not quite sure. I couldn't put a face with the voice." Nicole admitted. "But, she was definitely seeing him because he kept trying to find a place for them to meet up at the reception. They were both trying to think of one."

He felt his heart break and his blood boil. He bent over backwards defending her when people called her a slut or said he could do better. Cheating was the way that Kelly repaid him. Suddenly, what Nicole said earlier seemed to be true. Somehow, what everyone had been telling him, he really couldn't put past Kelly anymore. She had been acting pretty suspicious lately, but never said anything because he thought he had lost Nicole. That's when it dawned on him. He was still in love with the brunette sitting before him.

"When everyone filed into the church, I snuck inside and hid behind an empty pew all the way in the back. With all the meatheads on your side of the church, no one saw me. So I was in the perfect spot to hide." She laughed. "The music started playing and I saw her walk down the isle with her father. Perfect smiles on both their faces. Tearing my eyes away from them, I quickly found you and my heart started to race. You looked amazing and you were smiling. However, your smile didn't reach your eyes like it always does. Your eyes were telling a much different story than your smile."

Justin only nodded, knowing she was right. It amazed him that she still knew him so well after all that time had passed. Maybe, she really was the one for him. He was only blind to the fact for reasons unknown to him.

"I know you wanted to be up there, but you didn't want her to be the bride. She wasn't who you wanted up there. Call me crazy, but I knew that you wished it was me."

"What makes you think that?"

"I realized it when you came to my hotel room that night. Remember?" She questioned. "That night you showed up at like one in the morning after you and Kelly fought about something. You stayed with me the whole night. We even fell asleep together. You were holding me like you never wanted to let go."

He remembered that night perfectly well. It was something that stayed with him and he wasn't really quite sure why. He kept telling himself that he loved Kelly and that's who he was meant to be with.

"I patiently listened to the priest. With every word that he said, I grew even more nervous. Finally, when he came to the part I'd been waiting for, I quickly got up and walked into the isle. Everyone's eyes were on me, but my eyes were on you. I said what I had to say and I left." Nicole looked away from him. "After that I ran out the church. I waited five minutes. When you didn't show up, I figured that you went through with the ceremony. I left, booked a flight to come back home and here were are now."

Justin got up and got on his knees, placing his hands on Nicole's thighs. His eyes connected with hers. Slowly, he leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers. "Why did you do it?"

"Because I love you." She finally admitted. "I had to speak now or never have you. Listen, Justin, I understand if you don't feel the same way for me."

He pressed his index finger to her lips. "Had you waited six minutes, we could have gotten through everything a lot faster."

Nicole's eyebrow shot up in curiosity. What exactly did he mean? She was the confused one now.

"If you hadn't spoken when you did, then I'd probably be miserable with Kelly." He admitted, realizing that he would always love the woman sitting before him. "After you left, people were whispering. Kelly and I had a little exchange of words. Finally, I told her that I had to think and I left her. As far as I know, she was angry when I left. I'm pretty sure any bride would be if she were left behind at the alter."

"What are you saying?" Nicole asked, trying to hold back her tears.

"I love you too." Justin admitted, pressing his lips to hers. "I always have."

Getting up, Justin helped Nicole to her feet and quickly wrapped his arms around her. He was really grateful for how the day had shaped out. Nicole was really the only person he could thank for everything. Had she not spoken when she did, Justin didn't know where he'd be. Slowly, he pressed his lips to hers, knowing he was finally with one he loved.

* * *

A/N: What did you think?


End file.
